the voracious lion

Watch as the hunter chases down his prey! Gasp as he gulps it down without pause or pity! The stewed apple never knew what hit it.

Voices in the background: maman and papi.

Snow Day

It's very pretty out! And we saw a snow plow pushing out another snow plow truck that had gotten stuck at the top of our street. We're staying indoors, but we just ventured out to look at our lovely snow-covered neighborhood. More pictures in our gallery.

New cousin, new blog

Leo checks out the new blog chronicling the arrival of his new cousin Louise. Welcome to the blog world, little cousin!

after dinner massage

Mmm, this is the life. A spot of dinner, and then a gentle massage from grandfather. Just the thing to relax before settling in for afters and dessert and apres-dessert.

We're back!

We have a camera again! Finally, you can expect more regular documentation of the non-stop frantic activity here at chez Giszpatrick...

New tricks

Leo is kicking off his fifth month of babyhood with some neat new tricks. He likes to pretend to walk from person to person along the dinner table (see neat photos below taken by M'amie Annie). He adores sucking on oranges (even disdaining my breast to go eat them!). And today, he rolled over from his front to his back twice. It is a new era.

Genoa Nostalgia

The night before we left Genoa, our friends Yael and Giampaolo (Giampi) came over and brought us dinner -- our very last taste of pesto alla genovese. Boy, Leo sure had a lot of cradle cap back then! I don't miss that, but I do miss our dear friends.

reflections on a four-month-aversary

Our little boy is all grown up! Well, maybe not all, but a lot. He is four months old, and charming the pants off everyone he meets - neighbors, nurses, random pedestrians caught in a drive-by cute attack. His favorite hobbies are sucking his fingers, vocal improv, and preventing his parents from ever sitting down (we're amazed we've found the time to write this post).

This is a good age. Bathing is starting to become a pleasure, unlike before. Passing in front of mirrors puts him in a reflective mood. He is more interested in the world, and is devoted to determining what parts are edible. You can hand him a set of plastic flowers with a crinkly leaf and he'll graciously reach out to grab it and shove it in his mouth.

M'amie and Grand-Pe'

Ah, our Leo is getting to know his Montclair grandparents -- M'amie Annie and Grand-Pe'. Typically French grandmothers are called mamie, but M'amie is a shortened version of "mon amie" (my friend). Grand-Pe' is a shortened form of Grand-pere (grandfather) and sounds like "grumpy" or "big fart" (his choice). M'amie went on a walk with Leo, and Grand-Pe' made meatballs with him.

Adorable

Our boy loves his Granny Ann.

And his second cousins were excited to meet him, too.

Now we are in New Jersey and meeting a whole bunch of new people. Photos to come!